Hello
by Safiya
Summary: Songfic to Evanescence's "Hello". Yesh, I know it's been done before... -.-;; Warning - Ryou angst


LDG: I was listening to my Evanescence CD the other day and I says to myself, "Self, you could do an awful lot of songfics with this CD."  
  
Ryou: Yeah. And she HAD to pick on me first. -.-;;  
  
LDG: Aw. ::pats Ryou's head:: It's OK. ^.^  
  
Ryou: Sure.  
  
LDG: Anyway... There'll be more to this story. All the stories might be connected, they might not. Depends on if I feel like making them all connect.  
  
Yuugi: Just don't do anything majorly angsty to me, please?  
  
LDG: ^.^ We'll see...  
  
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Disclaimer: Does it look like I own Yuugiou? Hm? Well, does it? That's what I thought...  
  
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Warnings: Ryou angst, possible OOC, and an OC.  
  
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(*)Playground school bell rings(*)  
  
(*)Again(*)  
  
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Ryou Bakura ran around the edge of the sliding board, giggling at his ingenious plan to hide from his best friend since he was little, Riyuu. Riyuu searched the playground for his playmate, but coming up empty. As she rounded the corner, Ryou jumped out and tackled his companion. Laughing, the two ten- year-olds tumbled down into the sandbox. Both came up sputtering and coughing up sand.  
  
Riyuu had developed a habit of playing with Ryou's hair, absentmindedly. She ran her slender fingers through her friend's white tresses, threading them in between her index and middle fingers. Ryou didn't mind at all; the motion actually soothed him somewhat. As they lay in the sandbox together, Riyuu began her ritual of combing through Ryou's hair. Ryou let out a contented sigh and leaned against Riyuu, laying his snowy head in her lap. Riyuu smiled.  
  
"How's your sister?" she asked.  
  
Ryou picked up a handful of sand and watched it run through his fingers.  
  
"Oh," she said with a frown. "I see."  
  
Ryou copied the look on Riyuu's face. "Why'd she hafta get hit by that car?" he asked bitterly. "If it wasn't for that, she'd be out here with us!"  
  
"She'll get better," Riyuu said reassuringly. "Then, when she does, we'll drag her out here and show all the fun she's been missing!"  
  
Even though Amane was three years younger than both Riyuu and Ryou, they still loved to play with her out in Domino Park. It was a tradition. Ryou would bring Amane to the park, and Riyuu would show up shortly afterwards. They were all fast friends. Their parents once said they all could've passed as siblings. The fact was semi-true actually. Riyuu, Ryou and Amane weren't separable once they got together.  
  
But, last week Amane and Mrs. Bakura were involved in a car accident and had to be admitted into the hospital. Riyuu's parents had volunteered to let Ryou stay at their house until Mrs. Bakura was well again. The offer was taken full advantage of. For the past six days, Riyuu and Ryou had skipped school and played at the park all day. It seemed to calm Ryou to play with his friend there, and he sometimes imagined the Amane was just back at home, waiting for him to get home and take her out to play. But then, reality came crashing down and Ryou was left with the fact that his younger sister was hospitalized.  
  
"Hey, Riyuu," he said, adjusting himself so he could see her face. "Do you ever think about getting married?"  
  
Riyuu threw Ryou a confused look, but replied all the same. "Sometimes."  
  
Ryou rolled over onto his belly and toyed with a blade of grass that peeked up through the sand. "Well, I was thinking about it the other day. And, Riyuu, when I get older, I wanna marry you."  
  
"Yeah," Riyuu said with a happy smile on her radiant face. "I'd like that. We'll get married as soon as we both graduate high school, OK?"  
  
Ryou put on an equally happy face. "Promise?" he asked.  
  
"Promise," Riyuu said.  
  
And then, Riyuu bent over and gave Ryou a quick and chaste kiss. Stunned by his friend's boldness, Ryou opened and closed his mouth in shock and watched as Riyuu laughed again. Her emerald eyes closed and her long, raven hair trembled around her face as she giggled.  
  
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(*)Rain clouds come to play(*)  
  
(*)Again(*)  
  
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The sky had been growing steadily darker for the past hour, and a few raindrops began to fall. Ryou scrambled to get up and out of the rain, but Riyuu pulled him back.  
  
"No," she said. "First, we drink the rain. For good luck, you know? For your sister."  
  
Ryou nodded. Both of the adolescents threw back their heads and opened their mouths. The rain pitter-pattered on the back of Ryou's tongue before sliding down his throat. He felt other droplets striking his pale skin and soaking his clothes. Riyuu reached out and interlaced their fingers together; Ryou could've sworn she would've been smiling had she not been drinking rain. She tugged on Ryou's hand. "You're wet," she said and pulled him down the path.  
  
An hour later, the two were dry and sipping hot chocolate from thermoses. The phone rang and Riyuu's mother picked up. "Hello?" she said. "Oh." Her brow furrowed and the corners of her mouth drooped. "No, of course not. I'll tell him. Thank you." Ryou glanced over at Riyuu's mom, who at the moment had pools of water gathering at the corners of her eyes. Riyuu also eyed her mom. "What's up, Mom?" she asked.  
  
"Well, honey," her mother said. She stared at Ryou tearfully. "Ryou, your mom... and sister. They... they didn't make it."  
  
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(*)Has no one told you she's not breathing(*)  
  
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Ryou remembered feeling something hot and wet streaming from the corners of his eyes. He remembered opening his mouth and closing it again in disbelief. He saw Riyuu's mother's mouth moving, but he couldn't hear what she was saying. Riyuu wrapped her arms around her grief-stricken friend, and soothingly stroked his hair. Ryou clung to her, as one clings to a log in the middle of a raging river, and he cried.  
  
Three days later, Ryou stood in front of his mother and little sister's caskets. He gazed at them, his expression unreadable. Riyuu stood next to him, clad in all black, with her arm around his waist. Black circles hung around her eyes and the edges were slightly red. She glanced at Ryou. The poor boy had cried more than Riyuu ever imagined anyone crying in their lifetime. He seemed unable to cry anymore, but there was a look of absolute despair in his eyes.  
  
"From ashes to ashes. From dust to dust..."  
  
The pastor's voice droned on and on. It began to irritate Ryou. He glared at the elderly man, wishing that he would just stop talking! Mr. Bakura wasn't there, which made Ryou angrier. Why couldn't his own father take some time off work to some to his wife and daughter's funeral? He clenched his hands into fists as the pole bearers lowered the coffins into the earth. A single tear slid down his face and splashed onto Amane's coffin.  
  
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Four years later, Mr. Bakura stepped into his household and yelled for his son, Ryou. Ryou clamored down the stairs and into the sitting room. He gazed at his father, who handed him a small box.  
  
"Go ahead," his father urged. "Open it. It's a gift from Egypt."  
  
Ryou ripped into the box and pulled away the layers of cream tissue paper. Inside lay a golden piece of jewelry. It looked like an Indian dream catcher, but it had the Eye of Horus engraved in its center. Ryou mumbled a thank you to his father and slipped the necklace over his head. The gold ring almost seemed to give off heat of some kind.  
  
//Hey you!//  
  
Ryou stepped back and looked around the room suspiciously.  
  
"Are you OK?" Mr. Bakura asked.  
  
"Yes, Father," Ryou said. "If you'll excuse me, I have homework to finish."  
  
Ryou shot up the stairs two at a time and slammed his bedroom door shut. The necklace glowed faintly and a translucent figure appeared out of the ring. It looked strangely like Ryou, only older and more vicious looking. The ghostly thing inspected Ryou's room, before scrutinizing Ryou himself.  
  
"Pity," he said. "I was hoping for an older host."  
  
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(*)Hello(*)  
  
(*)I'm your mind(*)  
  
(*)Giving you someone to talk to(*)  
  
(*)Hello(*)  
  
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Ryou opened the front door and found Riyuu standing there. Her face was streaked with tears and her eyes were red and puffy.  
  
"Riyuu!" Ryou exclaimed. "What happened?"  
  
He immediately ushered her inside and asked again what was wrong. Through teary eyes, Riyuu explained that her parents had decided to move to Tokyo tomorrow. She hadn't been able to visit Ryou because of all the packing and her parents didn't even want her to say goodbye. So she snuck out and came to tell him herself.  
  
Ryou wrapped his arms around her as she cried into his chest. He stroked her hair, just like she had done many, many times before. Riyuu had changed over the years. Her hair was cut short now, a stark contrast to Ryou's long white locks. She'd matured considerably in body and mind. In Ryou's eyes, she was the most beautiful girl he knew, but her tear-streaked face masked her beauty. He leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of her head.  
  
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(*)If I smile and don't believe(*)  
  
(*)Soon I know I'll wake from this dream(*)  
  
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"I'm sorry, Ryou," she said, hiccupping. "I--I won't be a—able to keep that pr—promise that we made in th—the park that day."  
  
Ryou could feel some tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. "Oh. Don't worry about it," he said. "It was... It was just a silly promise."  
  
Riyuu jerked her head up. "D—do you really think that, Ryou? Was it j—just an empty promise?" She wiped the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand. "It wasn't empty to me. And it never has been. I—I love you, Ryou," she whispered. "And I wanted to keep that promise. My parents, they don't understand, and that's part of the reason they want to leave."  
  
Ryou was dumb-struck. Riyuu...loved him? He kissed her tenderly and replied. "I love you, too, Riyuu."  
  
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(*)Don't try to fix me I'm not broken(*)  
  
(*)Hello(*)  
  
(*)I'm the lie living for you so you can't hide(*)  
  
(*)Don't cry(*)  
  
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The next day, Ryou watched from his window as the thunderstorm outside raged. It certainly matched his mood perfectly. But, it also reminded him of that day, four years ago, when he and Riyuu had drunk the rain in a toast to his sister, Amane. "For luck," Riyuu had said. A lot of good it did. Riyuu was gone and so was Amane.  
  
He pounded on the windowpane. "It's not fair!" he yelled.  
  
A gust of wind blew open the window and whipped the drapes around Ryou's form. Rain pelted on the youth relentlessly, soaking him within seconds. He laughed and threw back his head, letting the droplets hit his tongue and travel down the back of his throat. Tears mingled with the rain and left a salty taste in his mouth.  
  
"I'm drinking the rain, Riyuu!" he screamed into the storm. "For luck! For you!"  
  
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(*)Suddenly I know I'm not sleeping(*)  
  
(*)Hello(*)  
  
(*)I'm still here(*)  
  
(*)All that's left of yesterday(*)  
  
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From deep within Ryou's soul, the spirit from the Egyptian necklace watched everything and shook his head. He filed this episode away in the corners of his mind. Perhaps the information would be of use later. He would bide his time until the opportune moment. This moment was not it.  
  
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LDG: ::sniff:: So sad. T_T  
  
Ryou: That was evil.  
  
LDG: ^.^ 


End file.
